College Diversity Plan

Mission: The Diversity Committee provides leadership for COCC to create an equitable and respectful climate for diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ideas in order to nurture a vibrant, inclusive, and engaged learning community.

In 2000, the COCC Diversity Committee developed a Diversity Charter that identified goals for the COCC campuses to "create a welcoming college climate that supports the rights of individuals and reflects respect for diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ideas." An important element of this plan was the proposal to hire a Diversity Coordinator to direct the diversity activities and manage a Multicultural Center. This position was appointed in 2006 and, since then, visible progress has been made toward many of the Plan's goals.

In 2009, in accordance with the campuses' commitment to Assessment and Learning Outcomes, the Diversity Committee updated its goals and identified measurement tools and timelines to better align with the assessment process. This new plan also integrates the changes that have been made since the original plans were created.

This Diversity Plan addresses goals and learning outcomes around five themes:

College Mission and Goals
In accordance with the goals of supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) and interacting effectively with state, regional, national and global communities, this Plan calls for campus departmental and unit mission statements to reflect a commitment to fostering respect and inclusion of diversity in their activities and programs.

Access and Representation
Research has shown that organizations with more diverse personnel achieve greater success, enjoy higher levels of creativity and ingenuity, and maintain higher levels of job satisfaction. In educational institutions, research suggests that student engagement and learning is enhanced when students are exposed to more diverse perspectives, ideas, beliefs, and world views. Increasing the diversity of our students, faculty, and staff, and supporting their success, are elements of this theme.

College Climate
Elements of this theme include the development of a welcoming and respectful campus environment, appropriate response to unwelcomed biases and mistreatment, and the intentional inclusion of diverse backgrounds and cultures in all aspects of the campuses, including curriculum, activities, art, architecture, personnel, and campus life.

Education and Training
Essential to this theme is ensuring that students enrolled in degree and certificate programs gain the skills necessary for them to effectively interact and work in a multicultural community. In and out of classroom experiences contribute to this goal and it is critical that faculty and staff have the skills needed to effectively interact with and educate a diverse student population.

Evaluation and Recognition
In every long-term planning effort, it is beneficial to ensure that individuals and groups are recognized for their efforts in promoting its goals and outcomes.

Diversity Plan Goals, Learning Outcomes, Strategies, and Measurement Tools